Day 1: Disabled my Facebook account and changed privacy and tracking settings in my phone. Facebook gathers and sells information on us to private corporations and organizations and most people don’t realize it.

Day 2: Began using Firefox and downloaded a number of addons, such as HTTPS Everywhere and various adblockers, in order to better protect my online presence.

Day 3: Looked up information about myself on applymagicsauce.com. Most of the information was wrong (I don’t use Twitter very much) but it was still interesting to see the information that can just be gathered and inferred from the public.

Day 4: Downloaded the Firefox app onto my phone. Firefox has famously been on the side of user privacy and net neutrality, so I figured it would be a decent investment that costs nothing.

Day 5: Changed all of my passwords. Not a huge deterrent but every bit helps. Changing passwords regularly can be a huge deterrent in information gathering.

Day 6: Began keeping an eye out for cameras around college campus. There are a number of them in the residence halls and a webcam looking out into the cistern in Randolph Hall.

Day 7: Changed privacy settings on my phone to better protect myself. Set location services to “off” on certain apps, but most of them I changed so that instead of always tracking my location, they can only know my location while I’m using it.

William D. Young

Professor Koellner

LTGR 250-01

10.12.2018

Surveillance Project Reflection Paper: Counter Surveillance as a Form of Protection.

In this age, more so than ever before in history, we must expect that we are being watched. It is simply the way life is now, information on ourselves is being gathered and sold to the highest bidder, and there is shockingly little we can do about it, but we are not entirely helpless. It takes a little extra effort, but by utilizing surveillance like our watchers do, we can protect ourselves from potential malicious threats. There are a variety of ways we can do this. Some are as simple as only using cash instead of debit or credit cards, others take more effort, such as watching out for cameras and downloading specific apps and web browsers. Regardless, it is more important than ever in this day and age to learn how to protect yourself online, and it is something that everyone should learn how to do.

Surveillance, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is the “close watch kept over someone or something.” That’s a fairly basic explanation, but it is entirely accurate. I think it is probably fair to say that when most people think of “surveillance” images of detectives and spies come to mind. Unfortunately, this somewhat romantic notion is not entirely accurate anymore. Today, we are under surveillance the likes of which would make the Stasi blush. Whether you consider him a traitor or a hero, when he blew the whistle on NSA surveillance activities, Edward Snowden in many ways opened up the eyes of the American populace. He showed that the NSA was using mass surveillance tactics to spy on everyone, from enemies of the state and terrorists, to our own allies in the European Union and even American citizens. But it wasn’t just the government that was spying on us. The website “crackedlabs.org” shows just how extreme corporate surveillance can be. Through a complex system of tracking and trading, they can influence us and infer very personal information from us based on our online presence. Thankfully, we can take steps to protect ourselves and ensure our privacy through surveillance of our own.

Using surveillance as a form of protection is a bit of an interesting concept, as it seems rather unconventional at first glance. But by doing this, one can very efficiently protect themselves online. This does not require one to be some expert hacker or data guru, all it really requires is a basic understanding of computers and bit of awareness both offline and online. Offline, you can take measures such as paying only with cash and keeping an eye out for Closed-Circuit Television, or CCTV cameras, which according to facilitiesnet.com are divided between Analog and IP-based cameras. Analog cameras, again according to facilitiesnet.com, “…have been around for years.” These are the cameras that are all local and store their footage on-site. They are still the most common type. IP systems are newer, offer better resolutions, and “allow user to e-mail video images for consultation.” So they’re much more advanced, and you can probably expect CCTV systems to become even more advanced in the future. Something else you can do to limit your offline presence, though it may be extremely inconvenient, is deciding to use cash instead of a debit or credit card in your day-to-day purchases. Naturally, in this day and age, this isn’t ideal, but it is another option you could take if you’re so inclined.

Managing your online presence is a lot more obvious, but can in many ways be more difficult. Really the first thing you should do is research to find out exactly what information is freely available on the internet. If you have a Facebook account, you can go into the settings and view the information and the categories they put you in based on post history and location tags and tracking. For instance, they are able to guess if you live away from family, or have a pet, or have friends of a certain ethnicity. The website applymagicsauce.com can tell you what personal information they can infer about you based on your Twitter activity. This is to mirror what information companies and corporations can guess about you using similar technology. The next step you can take is using certain websites, browsers, and addons and extensions to protect yourself online. The web browser Firefox is famously pro-privacy, and have also taken a stand for net neutrality. Furthermore, you can use addons such as Adblock Plus (https://adblockplus.org/) to block not only adds, but also cookies, which, according to whatarecookies.com, are small files that are used to track your online activity in order to “deliver a page tailored to a particular user.” You can also download the web extension “HTTPS Everywhere,” which, according to their homepage, “encrypts your communications with many major websites, making your browsing more secure.”

By taking these steps, you can begin to take back your online presence. Living in the age of information can be scary, in part because no one has determined which information is off limits for the general public. I think it’s safe to say that everyone has some form of dirty laundry that they don’t want made public. It’s just a part of being human. But we live in an age where we need to be careful about what information we allow to be collected and used. Websites like Facebook can gather personal information and sell it for a pretty penny to the highest bidder. Taking some of these steps can help, but ultimately what we need to do is get out and vote for people who respect and support our rights to privacy. It is only through law that our privacy and personal online security can be secured definitively. Ultimately, there are precious few other genuine long-term solutions.

Works Cited

“Adblock Plus | The World’s # 1 Free Ad Blocker.” Adblock Plus | The World’s # 1 Free Ad Blocker, adblockplus.org/.

Cadwalladr, Carole, and Emma Graham-Harrison. “Facebook Accused of Conducting Mass Surveillance through Its Apps.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 24 May 2018, www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/may/24/facebook-accused-of-conducting-mass-surveillance-through-its-apps.

Grove, Jon. “What Are Cookies? Computer Cookies Explained.” Computer Coookies Explained, www.whatarecookies.com/.

“HTTPS Everywhere.” Electronic Frontier Foundation, 27 Mar. 2018, www.eff.org/https-everywhere.

Rainie, Lee. “The State of Privacy in America.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 21 Sept. 2016, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/09/21/the-state-of-privacy-in-america/.

Szoldra, Paul. “This Is Everything Edward Snowden Revealed in One Year of Unprecedented Top-Secret Leaks.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 16 Sept. 2016, www.businessinsider.com/snowden-leaks-timeline-2016-9.

“What Does CCTV Stand For? – Security Coverage.” Facilitiesnet, www.facilitiesnet.com/security/topic/What-Does-CCTV-Stand-For–19068.

Abrie Richison

Dr. Koellner

LGTR 250

10 December 2018

Part one: Data Diary

            The first steps I took in taking back control of how much I am being surveilled online was to decide which social media accounts I used the most. In doing so, I had to reflect on my online presence. I came to the conclusion that Facebook, Instagram and Twitter were my three most prevalent social media accounts. Once I did this, I decided to go in and activate Two-Factor Authentication so that it would be more difficult for someone to hack into my account and gain insight to my personal settings and such. Once I knew the setting I was looking for, it was not difficult to facilitate this in my social media accounts. This was my task on day one.

On day two, I went to Applymagicsauce.com and saw how I was perceived by my Twitter account. It was interesting because twitter thought that I was a male and that I was 32 years old based on my tweets and retweets and overall Twitter use. Once I saw these results, I went back through some of my content to see why Twitter would think these things of me. I noticed that I rarely tweeted personally, rather I retweeted other accounts. The accounts that I spent most time with were owned by men, maybe making Twitter think that I was also a man. It was interesting to know what they had gathered regarding my identity and then to go back in and see what may have given them that impression.

On the third day, I did some research on Ad blockers and what that service entailed. Interestingly, I sometimes enjoy the adds that pop up on my social media accounts because they are obviously tailored to my interests and needs as a social media user. Rather than apply the Ad Blocker to my phone, I just researched it from the outside to see how it would benefit people who did not want these ads. Ad blocking is very effective and one of the most popular blockers I found was AdBlock Plus.

On the fourth day, I really focused on Facebook and who could see what posts of mine, as well as what accounts were connected to my Facebook account and sharing information. I found that some of my posts were being shared with people who were not in my “friends” list – meaning that people outside of my approved list were seeing my posts. I had a problem with this because some of my pictures or events were personal and I would rather not share them with just anyone. I then went through and made sure that only my friends could see all of my posts, rather it be something I was tagged in or something I posted personally.

On the fifth day, I researched and installed Privacy Badger. This settled my mind in knowing that third parties could no longer track the sites I was visiting and spending most time on.

On the sixth and seventh days, I researched other applications and ways to continually keep control of my privacy. While this experiment has been enlightening, I would love to continue keeping control of my privacy. I looked into Signal, Duck Duck Go and even considered YubiKey.

Part Two: Reflective Research Paper

          Technological advances have created an abundant increase in internet use, specifically through social media. Because of this increase, users have begun openly sharing information, location, personal photos and relationships on the internet without knowing who can see it and how these consumers can use such information. It is important to be aware of our online presence because much more of our information is being used than we think. During my research, in which I implemented counter-surveillance as a form of protection, I learned just how much about our personal lives is documental through social media. This was done through researching different applications, settings and personal social media accounts. My goal throughout this research was to gain insight into how much of my information is being harbored by third parties and to then take back control of my own privacy using useful tools. By focusing on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, I was able to gather information regarding privacy and just how much of it we are lacking as social media users.

All of the three social media accounts that I focused on – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – have their own privacy settings. I learned that when you make an account, these accounts fail to offer much aide in your account’s privacy. Users are able to easily access their ability to make an account private but that is typically the extent of their privacy settings endeavor. What users rarely utilize, me included, is the extent of their ability to make their accounts more private. For instance, Two-Factor Authentication, a security step in which users are required to identify themselves in two ways to log into their accounts, is available on many social media services but not well advertised. Though some companies are becoming more transparent with their privacy settings, there are still unpredicted breaches of security that have exposed user’s information to the public.

One of these breaches that completely effected the privacy of users was the Cambridge Analytica. In a New York Times article titled “Cambridge Analytica and Facebook: The Scandal and the Fallout So Far,” written by Nicholas Confessore, the scandal is exposed and discussed. News broke in mid-March 2018 that Cambridge Analytica, a London based data-mining firm, lifted the Facebook profiles of millions of users without their consent for political purposes related to an upcoming election. Documentation surfaced and proved that a former board member at the London based firm, Stephen K. Bannon, pulled users information in hopes to “build voter profiles” (Confessore). In doing so, he breached Facebook’s privacy claims and put millions of users at risk. Users began to protests Facebook as Confessor states when he writes, “The Times reported on a growing number of Facebook users, including singer Cher, deleting their accounts – and broke news of departure of Facebook’s top security official, who has clashed with other executives on how to handle discontent” going on to mention, “The hashtag #DeleteFacebook began trending on Twitter” proving the uproar that took place after the breach. From this quote, it is adamant that users were not pleased with the breach in their personal information and even used other social media platforms to express their unhappiness. Because breaches like this are possible, it is abundantly important that we take back our privacy as users in order to protect it ourselves.

There are plenty of ways to take back our privacy as users. There are applications that can be downloaded that aide in the containment of privacy as well as browser extensions that can be added to search engines. For instance, Ad Blockers are available that will block ads from appearing. There is a certain software, called AdBlock Plus, that prevents third parties from being able to gather information from you and then tailor the ads to that personal information. While this is just one thing we can do, there are many things that can protect our online presence. However, I do believe that there should be 5 rules for equity and fairness when it comes to data sharing.

The first of these rules is to implement more transparency between companies and users. In doing so, users will know what they need to accomplish on their end to achieve total privacy of information. Companies, like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, should have a more open communication with their users, working with them rather than separately in obtaining privacy. I think another rule that would be beneficial is for Two-Factor Authentication to be implemented at all times, rather than just when the user finds out about it. If users began their online experience with Two-Factor Authentication, then a majority of breaches and hacks would be prevented. Another rule would be for users to know who is viewing their content at all times. This would eliminate any questionable viewing of user’s information. The fourth rule I would like to see installed is less connecting of accounts. In connecting your Facebook account with other accounts, users are at a higher risk for one of their accounts to be hacked, therefore, the other accounts being hacked as well. Though we are informed of data sharing that leads to ads, I think a fifth rule that would help the overall usage of social media is for users to be more educated as to what is being shared. I think a simple, easy-to-read terms and agreement that details exactly what will be kept private and what will be used to public use would help in overall online experience in relation to privacy.

Some techniques that I found especially helpful were Duck Duck Go, Applymagicsauce.com and Privacy Badger. I began by uncovering my online presence from an outside source, such as Applymagicsauce.com. This site allowed me to connect my Facebook and Twitter accounts in order to gather information about my data double. What they found from my accounts surprised me as it was much different than what I expected. For instance, with my twitter account they believed I was a middle-aged man. This was interesting to me until I viewed my own account from the perspective as an outside source. In doing so, I could see how they gathered these assumptions based on what I retweeted and who I followed. In knowing these interpretations about me, I am now able to alter what one could gather from my Twitter account because I have more knowledge from Applymagicsauce.com. After doing this, I became much more intrigued with my online presence and decided to investigate the capability of Duck Duck Go and Privacy Badger. Duck Duck Go is search engine that blocks trackers and eliminates the possibility of other people using your information. They market themselves in a way that expresses tracking as “creepy” and shows how they never track your searches, hoping to leave users feeling more protected in their online experience. They just launched a new mobile app in 2018 that makes it even easier for users to use Duck Duck Go. Comparatively, Privacy Badgers is a browser add-on that prevents third party trackers. Both of these counter-surveillance techniques are beneficial for user’s experiences.

Overall, gaining control of our data doubles is very important as internet use is abundantly predominant in our culture today. Whether or not we realize it, our privacy is not always guaranteed online, meaning our personal information, relationships, interests and much more is being shared with undisclosed parties. Because of this, counter-surveillance can definitely protect us online. As my group members also learned, it is much easier than we thought to take back our online privacy. From this course, through literature and our own outside research, we have seen many instances of extreme surveillance. Whether it be from the government, like The Method or “In the Penal Colony”, one man, The Sandman, or many people, like in “Up in the Gallery,” surveillance is all around us; it is all encompassing. There are few ways to escape surveillance in today’s society but there are steps we can take in preserving our privacy to the best of our abilities.

Works Cited:

Confessore, Nicholas. “Cambridge Analytica and Facebook: The Scandal and the Fallout So Far.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 Apr. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-scandal-fallout.html.

Houston Sorrels

Data Diary

Day one (Dec 3)

    Today I focused on my mobile phone settings. Going through them I realized I had mindlessly given apps various permissions that, when I took the time to actually consider why they needed these permissions, were not strictly necessary to get what I needed out of them. For example my phone dialer wanted permission to use my camera, and netflix wanted permission to use my microphone; these were just two examples of permissions that I had given that seemed strange to me, but by going through and denying certain apps certain permissions, I can help to ensure that data isn’t passively being collected against me when using services that are apart of my daily life.

Day two (Dec 4)

    Today I focused on my browser. One app I downloaded for it that was recommended in The Privacy Paradox was Privacy Badger. It’s an app that monitors websites and reports what cookies they are trying to collect, and if they are attempting to track you. A lot of these things occur behind the scenes in everyday browsing, so it was interesting to have it brought to my attention again, just how much data I was allowing to be passively collected against me simply by browsing the web. Pages that contained tweets, such as news articles, still produced trackers for Twitter, the same was for Facebook of course.

Day three (Dec 5)

    Today I focused on social media. My Facebook is deactivate, but I actually reactivated it temporarily to see what information they had on me. Possibly because I haven’t used it in awhile, the information it has on me is quite random, some of it is accurate, while some of it is totally off base, but nonetheless it was interesting to see how the information was collected. Some from liking pages related to topics, some from interacting with ads, and some simply for “interacting with pages”. Outside of Facebook, my only other social medias are really Instagram, with my profile set to private (even though facebook probably hogs some data from that), and Reddit, which isn’t really forthcoming about the data they collect on users, although I’m pretty much a lurker.

Day four (Dec 6)

    Today I focused on my email. After the GDPR went into effect in the EU, I received a tooooon of emails from websites I had visited asking to agree to new terms and conditions, blah blah blah, so I actually went through those and unsubscribed myself from quite a few sites to cut down on all the useless emails I never read anyways. I use Gmail, so I’m sure Google is busy at work harvesting data there, and in fact I’m sure of it because often times emails with dates or phone numbers, I will get notifications asking if I want to “add to calendar” or “add to contacts,” and that wouldn’t happen without a second set of invisible eyes recognizing the info in my emails. I should be careful of how I talk about Google; both my phone and laptop run on Google operating systems, and I have the Google Home speakers in my house as well…

Day five (Dec 7)

    Today I focused on my bank information. I’ve never had an issue with my bank accounts being compromised, so I know at least on that front I’ve done a good job of protecting myself (outside of the one time I swiped my credit card on a skimmer, but that got resolved really quickly). Mainly I was interested in seeing what companies had my bank information stored so they could make recurring charges to my account, and it seems the only ones I have are from Google, Capital One, Ally Bank, and Metro by T-Mobile, so at least these companies have done a good job of protecting my information, although behind closed doors I’m sure they inevitably sell bits of it to third parties to advertise to me online.

Day six (Dec 8)

    Today I focused on “group data protection.” This stuck out as important to me because although I may be taking efforts to protect myself, certain aspects of digital privacy require parties on both ends to take steps to be effective. One app I’ve started using, and one that I have gotten friends to start using is Signal; it’s a messaging app that offers end to end encryption, so I can feel more confident in knowing that only myself and the person I’m communicating with are reading the messages, not the NSA, and not G-who-shall-not-be-named (still gotta be careful).

Day seven (Dec 9)

    Today I focused on reflecting on my progress. From what it seems before this week I had a “digital filing cabinet” that I would just leave unlocked to be viewed by anyone interested in my information. Although I can’t completely lock it, I’ve definitely taken steps to make sure I know who has access and whether or not I feel comfortable with the level of access they have.

Houston Sorrels

Dr. Koellner

German Lit in Trans

10 December 2018

Digital Privacy Reflection

    We live in an age where one’s private information can no longer be contained within the contents of a fireproof box locked within a home office; an Email address had become a “digital fireproof box” of sorts where an individual receives communications from healthcare providers, financial institutions, business correspondents, and of course friends. With the creation and widespread adoption of digital commodities and services, it has become nearly impossible to live a life that is “off the grid.” Life on the grid, however, does not mean one must forgo the benefits of informational security; one must simply learn to adapt and utilize these new age securities so that he or she does not miss out on the various benefits and conveniences the digital age has brought forth. The goal of this paper is to show what forms of counter-surveillance can be utilized in order to bring one’s digital privacy back into his or her own grip.

    In this essay counter-surveillance refers to the steps taken to understand how one’s digital information is collected and redispersed for the benefit of corporations through marketing, both at the individual and macro levels, or governments, and how an individual can take steps to find this collection of data and decide what information they are then comfortable with sharing. Directly preceding the writing of this paper colleagues of mine, as well as myself, were tasked with keeping a digital diary to document what information we found that was being collected on us, and the steps that we took in turn to take back control. One of the first steps I took was to go into my phone settings and restrict various app permissions that I felt to be unneeded in my day-to-day routine. There was no need for my phone dialer to have access to my camera, just as there was no need for Youtube to have access to my messages. Taking this one step of limiting these permissions can have large effects on minimizing data being collected an individual, especially when it has become common to have one’s phone at all times.

    To take things a step further, one may consider various apps or browser add-ons to help protect against passively sending data out about oneself that could be picked up by other entities. Firefox is a great browser choice in this regard as they have widely be associated with protecting and helping the end user, add-ons like Privacy Badger go a step further by showing you what trackers and collectors may be on a webpage that aren’t outwardly apparent, and giving you the option of limiting just how much can be collected. An app I found personally useful and highly important was Signal; Signal is a messaging app that offers end-to-end encryption, meaning the users can rest assured knowing that only the person reading their messages, are those for which they are intended. It must be noted though that in order to have this end-to-end encryption, both parties must use the Signal app; you’ll know messages are encrypted when the locked icon appears in the bottom right corner of the sent message.

    It is interesting to analyze the ways my colleagues and myself went about reclaiming our digital privacy. We all seemed to have drastically changed our online browsing habits by either downloading different add-ons to stop ads, trackers, and data collection, or downloading entirely new browser all together; our mobile habits also certainly changed with some of us changing passwords, others changing apps we use to communicate, and pretty much all of us going through our setting to see what we were allowing or forbidding. Two things I thought interesting that my colleagues did but that I did not do included going “cardless” for a day so that financial transactions could not be traced outside of ATM withdrawals, and examining where video cameras were placed in the public to see where we were being recorded. At the end of it, we all seemed to have ended up in relatively the same position, even though we may have not employed the same tactics to get here, and it is a position in which we are more aware of the digital world around us, and how we must take steps to secure our privacy within it.

    Just as how one must be responsible to handle personal, private documents with care, one will only have as much privacy online as which an individual is willing to commit. There are undoubtedly trade-offs that come with setting these personal limits, and they will surely differ from individual to individual, but they definitely do not come as the standard. When one uses a service that appears to be free, that individual must be the product to someone else. After committing to this data diary project, I developed five rules for myself to adhere to in order to protect my digital privacy; some of these rules I already subliminally followed, and some were created due to the realizations with which this project presented to me. The rules are as follows: 1) If I wouldn’t be comfortable shouting certain information about myself in public, I should not allow it to be accessible online, 2) if a company is not forthcoming about how they intend to use my information, then they should not have my information, 3) I should not need a lawyer to understand the terms and conditions of a website, if I do, then they probably should not have access to my data, 4) Actually read the app permission requests to see if they seem reasonable, 5) If I am able to give permission to have my data collected, I should be able to at any future time have permission to stop such collection.

On the homepage of MyCharleston, the online portal for students and teachers, you can see a live stream of the cistern. This means that there are cameras hidden, that overlook the yard. Through the the life stream, you can see a building to the left and the pathway that run towards the front, with the view expanding to the street. Without seeing this life stream on the homepage, I would have never known that there were cameras in the cistern.

After further research, I found that the College of Charleston has multiple webcams placed throughout campus. Anyone is able to access the live cameras through the CofC website by simply searching for them on google. The site states that the cameras are there “to provide live, streaming video 24/7”. The website does not state many uses of these cameras, but I am sure they partially serve as a tool to keep an eye on students.

I live in an off campus apartment but the building is filled with a majority of college students due to its close location to the College of Charleston. Throughout the halls there are security cameras which make the building feel safer. Currently, the cameras are being replaced so there are none on the ceilings of the hallways. There are also security cameras in both of the elevators. I have not seen any cameras in the stairwells which is surprising to me considering the high levels of surveillance in other areas of the apartment building. The purpose of these cameras are likely to keep an eye on residents and to make sure no one is doing anything harmful or dangerous.

My roommate works at Francesca’s, a little boutique on King street, where they sell many different clothing items and accessories. In many stores, there are security cameras dispersed throughout the floor in order to prevent thefts. I went into her work place to take pictures of some of the security cameras. Despite the security cameras placed through the store, my roommate talks about how there are still a lot of people who steal items from her workplace.

On the CofC website there is a map of all the places crimes have occurred. The map is titled “Campus Incident Map”. The most abundant crimes are Vandalism, Theft, Narcotics Violation, and Traffic Offense. I am sure cameras were used in the process of catching the suspects, and today many traffic lights have cameras on them, making it easier to monitor and control traffic violations. I believe that as time goes on, security increases, due to the developing technologies.

There are many “blue lights” placed throughout campus, most of them being in cougar mall, which is where our classroom is located. These lights are there in case of emergency, and help will come to the location where the button was pushed. This is not a surveillance camera but it is device that aids in crime prevention and provides information of a location, making it a possible form of surveillance that is used only when necessary.

The College of Charleston provides an annual security report where they list parts of campus procedures, and statistics. One of the sections of the report is titled “what locations must be tracked”. I believe it is necessary for all colleges to make their main priority safety of the students and staff. I think it is a positive thing that cameras are placed throughout campus in order to keep an extra eye out to prevent crime and to help solve cases if something does happen.

Nikita Eglis

Professor Koellner

December 10, 2018

                                                   (In)Visibility as a Form of Protest

Closed Circuit Television is defined as “the use of video cameras to produce images for display on a limited number of screens connected directly to a non-broadcast transmission system (encyclopedia.com)”. The many cameras placed around campus can be seen through the College of Charleston Website, and after researching the purpose of CCTV, I would not categorize the cameras shared on the college’s website as part of this system. CCTV systems are only able to be seen through a few screens, intended for specific people like police officers, security guards, or employees(encyclopedia.com). The security cameras where I work are used to monitor activity in the store, and are connected to a small screen in the back which shows different angles and areas of the store. Digital video surveillance is described as a system that “enables embedded image capture capabilities that allows video images or extracted information to be compressed, stored or transmitted over communication networks or digital data link (webopedia.com).” This definition is more vague than closed circuit television, and I think all modern security cameras would fit under this category, whether the footage can be viewed by a lot of people or not.

Majority of the College of Charleston Campus is monitored by cameras. The College of Charleston website provides twenty four hour live video surveillance of the popular spots on campus.This footage can be seen by anybody who google searches the school’s cameras. I am assuming the cameras are used in order to keep an eye on students, while also allowing the public to view what occurs in these busy spots around campus. The goal of these security cameras throughout campus is not just to track activity, but to also provide the public with more information than they would have without the use of this online tool. At Yale, students were interviewed on their opinion of security cameras around campus. One student said he felt as if the cameras were an invasion of his privacy, while another student felt that if they were made visible, she would feel more comfortable (yaledailynews). I disagree with the fact that the cameras are an invasion of privacy and believe they are necessary in order to to solve and prevent crimes.

In other places around Charleston, such as shopping stores on King Street, there is closed circuit television systems. Where I work, there are many cameras placed throughout the floor and they are all connected to a mini television in the back. These cameras are solely used for the purpose of preventing crime. When I see cameras anywhere in public I only associate them with crime prevention. I believe that cameras are important to have in very busy, public places where it is hard to keep track of everything going on. I do not ever feel too watched, but I believe that technology could advance to a point where there is too much surveillance, which has the potential to make people uncomfortable.

Throughout this course we have talked about many different forms of surveillance and the ways in which it makes people alter their behaviors. I believe that the many cameras on campus may prevent the way some people act in front of them, and some will act completely different when not under the eyes of the camera. This could help prevent crimes from happening, but also could have negative effects if a crime takes place where students know surveillance is not present. On my way back from class, I tried looking for the camera that provides twenty four hour video surveillance of the cistern online, but could not find it. Although these cameras are hidden, the school has still made it known that they are there. The fact that the public has the ability to find out where cameras are placed around campus has positive and negative sides, but I believe cameras are an important part of campus safety whether they are hidden or not.

I believe areas that are the most commonly used are monitored the most because of the greater flow of traffic. A crime can happen any place, at any time around campus, so it is difficult to decide what areas should have surveillance. The College of Charleston does a good job at providing blue lights spread around campus which are used to track one’s location when an emergency occurs. They also have many cameras overlooking popular spots around campus. Through this project I learned a lot about all the information the College provides on their website about public safety and the importance of the surveillance of campus. In relation to security cameras around the college and my workplace, I never feel watched and I know the cameras are only there to keep me and the others around me safe.

Although I do not mind security cameras, throughout the semester I learned about other forms of surveillance that make me feel a little more watched than I would like to be. For example, I never knew that the application on my phone “Maps” tracks all of the locations I have ever typed into it. I also learned about how Facebook categorizes people based on their friends and posts they have liked. I will not change the way I act over social media in order to change the way facebook or any social media platform defines me, but I do find it is crazy that they can make assumptions about people in order to manipulate what their feed looks like every time they open up the application. During Hasan Elahi’s TED talk, he mentions how we are surveilling ourselves by taking pictures of the food we eat and the places we go. He created a project where he takes pictures of everywhere he has eaten, meals he has made at home, airports he has flown out of, and even the different bathrooms he has used. He did this after an encounter with the FBI where they questioned him on what occurred during specific days of his life (Elahi). I never thought about how recording data on our cellphones is technically a form of surveillance until I watched this video.  With advancing technologies, surveillance is increasing and occurring all over without us even knowing.

Works Cited

Beal, Vangie. Digital Video Surveillance System. www.webopedia.com/TERM/D/digital_video_surveillance_system.html.

“Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV).” The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th Ed, Encyclopedia.com, 2018, www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/law/crime-and-law-enforcement/closed-circuit-television-cctv.

Elahi , Hasan, director. FBI, Here I Am! TED Talk

www.ted.com/talks/hasan_elahi?language=en.

Foggatt, Tyler, and Vivian Wang. “Campus Cameras Prompt Privacy Concerns.” Yale Daily News, yaledailynews.com/blog/2015/04/06/campus-cameras-prompt-privacy-concerns/.